The Popularity Project » l.h.

14. Threesome?

S T E L L A

"Hey, Stel. Funny finding you here."

"I live here."

"I-it was a joke."

Luke chuckled awkwardly, stalking past me as he entered the door of my home. It was the first genuine interaction we had in the past two weeks, as Luke kept conversation short with me every time I attempted to talk to him. He constantly seemed on edge and I had an idea as to why, knowing that Heather had unfortunately been attending school every single day for the time being. Anytime that Heather was around, it was like I never existed in the first place.

We have only ever talk to each other during my tutoring hours at school and for the first time, in what felt like months, Luke asked if we study for his French midterm at my house.

"So midterms, huh?" I asked to fill the awkward air surrounding me, guiding Luke up the stairs to my room.

"Yeah, I'm pretty nervous about it." Luke mumbled as I looked over my shoulder to see him tailing behind me. "Really not trying to get a 'D' this time."

I nodded, opening my room door as I sat at my desk. I could sense how uncomfortable Luke was, as his eyes roamed the area he hadn't seen in a while. Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I pat my hand on the sheets of my bed for the blond to sit. Luke blinked at me, snapping out of his silent gaze to scurry over.

I could not help but feel as if we were strangers again, like I was kicked back to square one with Luke. I never noticed how much time we spent together until we stopped, as nights felt unbearably long without his random plans and my days at school seemed less exciting. It had only been a few weeks, but he declared himself as my best friend and someone I unknowingly relied on.

Looking at Luke shifting awkwardly onto my bed made my chest feel hollow.

"How've you been?" Luke's voice chimed in hesitation. His eyes glanced to mine for less than a second before searching for his French textbook in his bag.

I had to clear my throat as it grew dry from his words.

"I've been alright, I guess." I pause, digging through my desk drawer to find my old French flashcards. "H-how are you?"

"Yeah, me too. Same as always." He replied promptly, yet his tone didn't seem sincere. It was as if my question somehow shifted the atmosphere into a worse direction, avoiding my eye contact.

"So let's get started." I suggest, exhaling a long breath in attempt to relax myself.

The knot in my stomach did not want to leave quite yet, as Luke's distracted presence and muttered answers left me distraught.

"Comment ça va?" I asked, looking up from the flashcard in my hands to the blonde's blank face.

"How are you?" Luke replied quickly, watching me nod my head at his correct response.

"S'il vous plaît."

"Please."

"Good."

He seemed annoyed with my routine warm up so I decided to end it early. I put away my basic vocabulary set to flip through his midterm review sheet. It did not seem difficult, as it was only basic vocabulary and sentence structure. I knew that Luke and I studied these terms all the time, so it was odd that he even came to me for help in the first place.

"Tu es prête?" I asked. It was a queue that he was familiar with, as I always began our conversational studying with 'te es prête?', asking 'are you ready?' before strictly speaking French until I'm finished with the exercise.